The war machine of Team Rocket marched on. After Petalburg, expansion into Oldale and Rustboro meant securing the routes along the way. And the League, of course, put up considerable resistance. [break][break]

The playbook was similar, in ways, to what had happened in Kanto. But instead of Zev's contacts among the admins and underbosses shooting him like a gun at different objectives, he was the one in charge. The grunts that served as his bullets struck hard and fast where he aimed them. [break][break]

Still, sometimes it was necessary to deploy himself. Reports of a strong League presence on Route 102 prompted him to enter the thick woodland and high grass. With his Type: Null at his side, he set out to disrupt any displays of opposition. [break][break]

Instead, he found an unlikely face, panicked and desperate. [break][break]

"Kyle?" Zev exclaimed, flabbergasted. "You're alive?" [break][break]

Months had passed since his encounter with the ghost—or hallucination—of the former Top Champion at the Border. Zev had decided since then that Kyle was well and truly dead, never to be seen again. [break][break]

Yet there was no mistaking the person who'd frozen to the spot several meters away. [break][break]

No relief flooded Zev at the sight of the man who'd been his co-ruler for twenty years in a dream. Nor did anger seize him at the knowledge a foe had thwarted death. He simply adjusted the calculations of war in his head and came to a single conclusion: [break][break]

kyle lopez had to be killed again, or at the very least, incapacitated or captured. [break][break]

Yet he did not command his Pokémon to attack. With a hand on his Type: Null to keep the monstrous abomination from charging, the God General fixed his gaze upon Kyle and demanded, "How did you do it?"

TAGS – kyle lopez[break]
NOTES[break]
– Zev is wearing combat gear; he is NOT armored by his powers[break]
– Asks Kyle how the fuck he managed to come back to life[break][break]

MP EARNED[break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

In an instant, Zev understood. This man was not Kyle. At least, he was not the Kyle he had known—or thought he'd known. His Kyle had been intelligent and confident in an unassuming way, always acting with a plan several layers deep. This Kyle was an imposter, a crude caricature in the real Kyle's body. [break][break]

Rage finally flared white-hot in Zev's chest. His expression contorted with fresh fury. [break][break]

"Don't give me that bullshit," he snapped. Type: Null mirrored its master, rumbling a threat low in its throat. "If you're not going to tell me, then I'll rip the answers out of you myself." [break][break]

His Pokémon leaped at Kyle, front paws extended to aim a CRUSH CLAW at the man. Zev followed at a slower pace, stalking forward through the tall grass with single-minded intent.

TAGS – kyle lopez[break]
NOTES[break]
– Zev is wearing combat gear; he is NOT armored by his powers[break]
– Realizes there is something wrong with Kyle and is pissed about it[break]
– Type: Null uses CRUSH CLAW on Kyle[break][break]

MP EARNED[break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

Type: Null roared in pain and fury as flames from the BURNING BULWARK singed its talons, deflecting the blow. Jumping backward and landing awkwardly on all four feet, it retaliated with a TRI ATTACK. [break][break]

"You were the Top Champion. You should know me," Zev said, advancing on the other man. Black crystal swept over the exposed skin of his arms and neck, leaving only his head uncovered. "We fought on the battlefield, where you gave me a decent enough challenge." [break][break]

Was it amnesia, perhaps? Had Kyle's resurrection caused him to forget everything from his previous life? Zev had no reason to doubt the possibility. It explained Kyle's odd behavior and the lack of announcement from the League government. [break][break]

"Or are you going to claim that was never you?"

TAGS – kyle lopez[break]
NOTES[break]
– Zev is wearing combat gear and is FULLY ARMORED: nothing can break through his defense, and things that hit him may take damage on impact[break]
– Type: Null is burned by BURNING BULWARK; uses TRI ATTACK on Gouging Fire[break]
– Zev advances on Kyle, intending to engage him in close combat[break][break]

MP EARNED[break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

Zev's eyes narrowed. He doubted that the other people Kyle had mentioned were members of Team Rocket. Otherwise, he would have already read a report that the formerly deceased Top Champion had returned to life. [break][break]

The SUNNY DAY amplified the daylight around them, turning the sky a blazing yellow-white and making the air uncomfortable with heat. [break][break]

"I don't think so." [break][break]

[break]

Above the men and their Pokémon, a sphere of darkness burst forth from nothing, expanding to consume the manifested sunlight. A circle of ominous shadow fell upon their battlefield. At the same time, Zev's Type: Null reared back, summoning a SHADOW CLAW to rake at the Gouging Fire from below. [break][break]

"Is that all you have? Where's Ho-oh?" Zev demanded, suspicious. "Why hold back?"

TAGS – kyle lopez[break]
NOTES[break]
– Zev is wearing combat gear and is FULLY ARMORED: nothing can break through his defense, and things that hit him may take damage on impact[break]
– Uses his darkness ability to nullify SUNNY DAY and cast a shadow over the battle[break]
– Type: Null uses SHADOW CLAW on Gouging Fire[break][break]

MP EARNED[break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

So not only did this version of Kyle have amnesia, supposedly, but had Ho-oh also relinquished its blessing? Disgust welled up inside Zev at the sight of the lesser being who possessed Kyle's name and face, but not what made him a formidable opponent. Better to end this farce of a battle soon, then, instead of wasting his time on it. [break][break]

Another Paradox Pokémon emerged to replace the Gouging Fire. With his supernatural sight, Zev saw the DRAGON TAIL as it slammed into Type: Null. His abomination roared and stumbled backward, flames from the earlier BURNING BULWARK still licking up its haunches. [break][break]

Recalling it to provide it some relief, he tossed another Pokéball to summon his Hatterene. "We're done here," Zev said to the Fairy-type. "Clean up this mess." [break][break]

Brilliant white light engulfed the giggling witch as she MEGA EVOLVED. Above, the globe of darkness dissipated, withdrawing the shadow it cast upon the land. In its wake, a hurricane of countless pink flower petals surged toward the Raging Bolt as Hatterene summoned a SPRINGTIDE STORM.

TAGS – kyle lopez[break]
NOTES[break]
– Zev is wearing combat gear and is FULLY ARMORED: nothing can break through his defense, and things that hit him may take damage on impact[break]
– Type: Null is hit by DRAGON TAIL and continues to BURN[break]
- Zev recalls Type: Null and sends out Hatterene[break]
- Hatterene MEGA EVOLVES (1/3) and uses SPRINGTIDE STORM on Raging Bolt[break][break]

MP EARNED[break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]

The battle was over before it had even begun. Zev should not have wasted his time with the meager shade of the man who had been kyle lopez. As the Raging Bolt and Walking Wake fell to his Mega Hatterene's attack, he stepped forward to seize the other man. [break][break]

Perhaps Team Rocket's scientists could retrieve the answers from Kyle's broken body—of his resurrection, and of what had happened to Ho-oh. [break][break]

But before Zev reached the other man, a hound of legend appeared. Entei. Standing over Kyle, the beast cast an imperious glare at Zev, daring the Devourer to approach. There had been an Entei at the Battle of Sootopolis as well, sighted near the Dyna Tree before the rising ocean had completely engulfed it. Was this the same Pokémon? [break][break]

Zev did not get a chance to find out. Entei snatched up Kyle's broken body and whisked him away, moving with such speed that Zev could not follow. So the God General remained amidst the burnt and battered grass, the gears in his head turning. [break][break]

He needed to report Kyle's reappearance to Rocket.

TAGS – kyle lopez[break]
NOTES[break]
– Zev is wearing combat gear and is FULLY ARMORED: nothing can break through his defense, and things that hit him may take damage on impact[break]
– Zev watches Entei leave with Kyle[break][break]

MP EARNED[break]

[attr="class","pkmn"]